Herb Waits (No. 28) and teammates drive back a Marion ballcarrier in the season opener.Jeff Schrier | MLive.com

SAGINAW, MI — One part of the Saginaw Sting’s mission is to compete for championships each and every season, and to do that, the Sting constantly need an influx of talent.

A part of this year’s talent is homegrown.

Former Swan Valley and Eastern Michigan University standout Herb Waits is back to play for his hometown Sting, and the former All-Stater wasted no time making an impact.

“He led us in tackles in Game 1, which speaks to how much he gets around the football,” Saginaw coach Fred Townsend said.

And he’s helped lead Saginaw to a 2-0 mark, extending its winning streak to 11 games in the CIFL.

“I love playing indoor football,” Waits said. “It’s very exciting with the momentum and energy. Everything I’ve played through college and high school, it’s some of the most fun I’ve had playing football, even when I was with the Colts.”

Waits, a 2008 Swan Valley graduate, was a standout special teams player for the Eagles and received an invite to camp with the Indianapolis Colts where his play stood out before being sidelines with injuries.

“I would have made the team, but I was injured and they cut me,” he said.

But that put hasn’t put an end to his NFL dream.

“I have a couple more tryouts scheduled, one with the Cleveland Browns after our season is over,” Waits said.

“(Sting co-owner Stuart Schweigert) is the reason I’m getting another shot at the NFL. Without him, I’d probably be sitting back at home doing nothing. He has a lot of connections with a lot of NFL teams and he’s well known.”

Waits said Schweigert, a five-year NFL veteran, helped put him in contact with various teams and is helping him prepare for his next tryout, which takes place shortly after the end of the CIFL playoffs.

“Stu called me up and said (the Sting) were looking for a few more guys and asked if I was interested,” Waits said. “I talked to my agent and he thought it would be a great idea to get back into shape and get used to hitting again for the next NFL season.”

Saginaw is happy to play its part in helping him get there.

“Our whole mission is to get these young men an opportunity to move on,” Townsend said. “We don’t want to keep ‘em. We want them to be able to move on to higher leagues and other destinations.”

But until then, Waits and the Sting are happy to have each other.

At 6 feet, 200 pounds, Waits is a safety prospect for the NFL, but he lines up at linebacker for Saginaw.

As weakside linebacker, Waits has the dual responsibility of defending in pass coverage and handling all the cutbacks.

“Everything is funneled to him,” Townsend said. “Our strongside linebacker is the one that forces everyone to cut back, and he has the opportunity to make tackles and he’s done a good job of that.”